Self-Realization

Hislop: One hears about various paths to self-realization. What does this mean?

Sai: There are three paths. There is that of devotion; the guru guides and all is left to the guru to perform. Then, there is the perception that God is omnipresent; the future comes up to the present and the past falls away from the present. God is omnipresent; so, the present is God; this is knowledge. Then there is surrender to God. But surrender does not mean just doing all actions in His name. Surrender to God is when the entire Universe is known as His body. Surrender is when doer, deed, and object are all God. It cannot be forced. It comes naturally. Faith is the foundation; surrender is the peak.

Hislop: Of the many ‘roads’ to self-realization, what is the short cut?

Sai: The short cut is this way: God’s name is the seed; love is the water by which the crop grows, discipline is the fence that protects the growing crop; the field in which the crop is grown is the spiritual heart; the crop when it comes to harvest, is bliss.

Hislop: Why should one attempt to gain self-realization when one is always self-realized?

Sai: As of now, there is a mixture in the mind of sensory identification. The mind is not fully one-pointed.

Hislop: Swami, time is needed for the plane to arrive in India, but why is time needed for self-realization? Is not an immediate awakening possible, entirely apart from time?

Sai: Immediate awakening apart from time? Yes, it is possible. If faith is full and perfect, then grace comes fully at that very moment—just as the sound and the bullet occur at the same moment.

Hislop: But, Swami, one believes that he does have full faith. Therefore, there must be self-deception.

Sai: As long as one thinks he has faith, he does not. Just as when one knows that he is meditating, he is not meditating. Only when meditation is automatic, all day long, is there meditation. Full faith is reached by sadhana, just as Bombay is reached by approaching it.

Hislop: Sadhana, as it is described, seems wrong, because it is a conscious effort aimed at getting a reward. It seems to me that sadhana is real only when it is spontaneous. That is, when one naturally loves God, then he cannot help but love God, and he cannot help but make enquiry.

Sai: It is as you say, but you have not experienced that spontaneous love of God; it is still just an idea. You have a conviction that love of God exists naturally in you. That conviction is the result of many lives of spiritual practice.

A Visitor: What is the correct sadhana for retired people?

Sai: Meditation morning and evening. Spend the days in good work.

A Visitor: What is the sadhana appropriate to ladies?

Sai: Ladies have the duty of house, children, and husband. They are very busy. Meditation morning and evening can be done. During the day, all work that previously was done for others should now be done as worship of God. That is the best sadhana for ladies.

Source: Conversations with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba